


Dislocation

by Arisprite



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Danger, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith and Lance have to work together to survive, Post-Season 2, but there's not much, could be pre-klance, dislocation, injuries, oh no that's it's own tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-11-16 07:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11248863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arisprite/pseuds/Arisprite
Summary: nounA disturbance from a proper, original, or usual place or state.Keith feels useless in the initial search for Shiro, and refuses to rest (since resting would mean thinking about the fact that Shiro was gone, had left him, again). Lance, fed up with the whole team not taking care of themselves, challenges him and Keith takes him up on it. Neither of them know that little competition will put both their lives in danger, but after surviving the night, they may understand each other a little better.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I'm excited to finally write something for Voltron (aside from a couple of micro fics a while back). I really love the characters, and I truly hope I do them justice. This is written to be canon compliant, and I really just wanted to give Keith and Lance the opportunity to work together and help each other. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> This is almost complete, and I'm working on the ending now, so expect updates relatively soon. 
> 
> *kisses!*

It had been chaos, right after. Keith’s memories of leaving his lion, and rushing to Shiro’s were blurry. Keith remembered screaming at Allura that they needed to go back, that Shiro had somehow been ejected from his lion, that the Galra were going to find him. Coran had been defensive, protective of Allura, while Allura staggered suddenly, going limp in Lance’s arms, yet again. The other paladins looked on in fear and weary anguish. 

Coran set them down somewhere, and made Allura rest. Meanwhile, the other paladins tried to process what had happened. Keith tried, anyway. There was so much. Thace’s sacrifice, the buzzing remains of whatever than Quintessence draining blast had done to them and their lions, and the magnitude of what they hoped they’d done. And pulsing through it all, at least for Keith, was the fact that Shiro was… gone. Missing. Again. 

And the worst part was that there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t go back and search that area of space, because Allura couldn’t open a wormhole right now. He couldn’t scan blips of Shiro’s armor frequency, or try to find his arm’s signal in countless transmissions, like Pidge and Hunk were doing (along with Slav as much as they could stand him). They had also been listening to any Galra broadcasts they could pick up, searching for any news of the Champion being caught again, of Voltron being weakened, or any news of Zarkon’s condition. According to them, it’s been radio silence on all fronts. 

It all made Keith grit his teeth. Feeling useless, he’d been training until the buzzing weariness in his limbs had been replaced with sore aches instead. He fought the gladiators until his sword fell from his twitchy fingers three times in a row, before he called it quits, shaking out his wrists. 

None of it was doing anything to silence his churning mind. He hadn’t told anyone about Shiro’s words to him. No one had been in the position to hear the contingency plan that Shiro had thought up. He didn’t know if Allura knew that Shiro wanted Keith to lead after him, but she was still bedridden, and not very awake most of the time, and Keith wasn’t about to inform her. As long as she was out of commission, they were in limbo.

So, he went down to the Lion’s hanger. It wasn't the first time, and he sat and stared at the Black Lion’s still figure, watching her for the slightest flicker of... well, anything. Looking at her, Keith couldn't shake the feeling that... she knew what it happened to Shiro. That she knew where he was, and how he could return, but she wasn't telling.

“C’mon kitty,” Keith said, frustration thick in his throat. “Let me in. You did before.” 

She sat, as regal as ever, barrier still up. Keith leaned forward over his crossed legs, planting his aching head into his palm. Who was he kidding, she wasn’t going to let him in. He wasn’t supposed to be the Black Paladin, and he didn’t want to be. Red was in his mind, humming distantly, but he couldn’t tell if she was upset or approving. Keith groaned a little. 

“What do you mean, she’s let you in before?” said an unwelcome voice over his shoulder, and Keith turned to see Lance coming closer. His hackles rose. He’d been avoiding Lance for this very reason - everything he said seemed to annoy Keith more and more, without Shiro around to temper their interactions. 

“Go away, Lance,” Keith muttered, and Lance straightened up, affronted. 

“Geez, chill out, man,” he said. “I was just coming to get you for dinner, since you’ve been all lurky down here lately.”

“I’m not hungry,” Keith said, unwilling to lose at his game of chicken… against a giant sentient robot. 

“Uh, yeah, you are. You haven’t eaten since dinner last night. Don’t think I didn’t notice you throwing your lunch plate away.”

“I’m fine, Lance, just leave me alone.” 

Lance huffed, and came around him, standing in front of him, seated on the ground. He put his hands on his hips, and leaned over him condescendingly. 

“Nuh uh. Now you wanna tell me what you meant, and why you’re staring at the Black Lion like that?” 

Keith grit his teeth. “Lance…” Keith growled, and Lance frowned hard, looking back and forth between him and the lion. 

“It’s almost like you’re… why are you trying to bond with Black?” 

Keith couldn’t stay seated anymore, and came to his feet, folding his arms and turning away. 

“Whatever, I’ll come to dinner now, so just forget it. 

Lance circled him, facing him again, and poking a finger into his chest. 

“You’re not telling me something. Do you- do you know something about where Shiro went?” 

Keith dropped his arms at Lance’s honest, baffled, hurt, and shook his head. 

“ _No_.” He let out a breath, and gestured to the Lion. “She might though. And I- I thought maybe I could find out what.” 

Lance tilted his head. 

“But how’re you supposed to talk to Black. She’s not your lion. It’s not like I could just go up to Red, and ask for a peek inside her mind, right?” 

Keith dropped his eyes. 

“I may have piloted her once before. I wondered if trying again would get her to say where Shiro was, but she won’t let me in.” 

Lance nodded along, and then froze, before windmilling his arms. “Wait, wait, wait! Back up! You’ve piloted _Black_? When? Did you and Shiro play musical lions or something?”

Keith huffed in annoyance. “It was when he was injured on that planet, after the wormhole split us up.” 

“Seriously?” Lance demanded, frowning. “And you didn’t think to mention this?!” 

Keith bristled. “It was a life or death moment! And a lot of stuff happened since then!” Then, Keith faltered. “But...” 

Lance raised one eyebrow, prompting. “But?” 

Keith growled again, and ran a hand down his face. “But, Shiro may have said that if anything ever happened to him, I was supposed to lead Voltron…” 

Keith opened his eyes in time to see Lance’s eyes widen in hurt, before quickly switching to anger. 

“You?!” Lance said, sounding far too incredulous. “Oh yeah, _that’s_ a great idea! Let’s put the hothead, impulsive, mullet head in charge of _Voltron!_ ” 

His tone made Keith’s hackles rise. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith demanded. Anger was flushing out every other emotion, and Lance was making himself a good target. “Shiro obviously thought I could handle it!” 

Lance got in his face, nose to nose. “Well, I think Shiro just picked you cause you’re his favorite, and not because he actually thought about who would make the best leader!” 

“What, and you think _you_ could do a better job?”

“Maybe!” Lance said up in his face. “Maybe Shiro is wrong.” 

“He is not!” Keith yelled, and Keith might have punched him then and there, except that the Black Lion growled. It reverberated around the room, and startled both of them. It was the most movement or sound that had come from Black since they’d found her cockpit empty, and Keith stared up at her. 

Lance muttered “Whatever,” and left the way he came. 

“Girl?” Keith asked, but there was silence again. Her shield was still firmly in place. Keith pressed his hand against it, then his fist. 

“C’mon,” he muttered, chest tight. “Come on, come _on_!” 

No amount of pounding would get her to lower it. 

Eventually, Keith slumped backwards from the barrier and swallowing thickly. Frustration was pulsing under his skin. All he wanted was to find Shiro - to help in some way to find out where he was, or if he was alive. Keith clenched his fists. He couldn’t lost hope, he couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t. 

But what was he supposed to do? At least the first time Shrio had disappeared, taken by the Galra while Keith was back on Earth, Keith had had his research, the trails he could follow. He had _something_. Here… he had nothing. 

Keith went back to the training room, to find that the door wouldn’t open. Keith jerked the handle and shoved his shoulder against the panels, but they wouldn’t budge. 

Keith made a frustrated noise, and kicked the door, hard enough to jar his toes (inside his regular boots, and not the armor). He was willing to bet it was Lance who had locked the door, or had asked someone to code it for him. He’d either asked Hunk, or bribed Pidge. Either way, there was no way Keith could force himself in. 

“Argh!” Wheeling around, Keith stalked towards the main airlock, currently serving as just a door since they were grounded on a breathable planet. The moon Coran had found, hidden deep from any Galra occupied space, was uninhabited and barren, save for scraggly trees that only grew to waist height. Scans showed the largest creature here was no bigger than a house cat. And since they were allowed outside, Keith was going to take advantage of that. After all, Lance hadn’t factored in that he could actually train in places other than the training room. So there. 

*~*~*~*

Lance stalked away from the Lion’s hangers, arms folded tightly in front of him, and jaw tight. No, don’t mind him, he’s just trying to watch out for the team, since apparently no one in the whole castle could take care of themselves. Allura was the only one resting, and that was only because Coran was watching her so closely he’d practically tied her to the bed. Lance had had to nag and wheedle Pidge into sleeping, drag Hunk away from tech stuff every once in awhile, and dammit, he was _trying_ to get Keith to eat, but that pigheaded… obstinate… argh! 

And Shiro wanted to make _him_ the leader?! The guy who’d train until he fell over and then train some more? Speaking of…

Lance detoured from his aimless pacing towards the work room where Pidge, Hunk, and Slav had set up shop. Lance stood in the doorway for a moment, watching his friends feverishly work to find Shiro, in the way only they could. The trouble was, there were just no leads. They didn’t know if he’d been captured, or just lost in space, or if he was in another realm entirely, but they couldn’t go back to search. It broke Lance’s heart, but it was just too dangerous to go back to that small section of space, unless they knew what they were looking for, and could get in and out quick. Plus with Allura still down, there really was no way to get there. Regardless, the Galra were still a threat, and until they could confirm, well, anything, this was the way it had to be. 

Lance hoped Pidge or Hunk would find something. But if they didn’t… well, they couldn’t hang around waiting for much longer. Lance hoped he could convince his friends of that. 

Leaning on the door frame, Lance rapped his knuckles on the metal. 

“Yo, Hunk, my buddy o’ pal,” he said, trying to inject some liveliness into his voice when all he felt was tired, petty, jealousy. 

“Yeah, what, Lance?” Hunk said, not looking up. Lance felt his will to make an effort thin further, and his annoyance at Keith, and everyone, get closer to the surface. 

“I need your help with something,” Lance said. Hunk still didn’t look up, but he did raise his piece of tech so he was semi-facing Lance behind his alien safety goggles. 

“Can’t it wait, Lance, I’m kinda in the middle of something?” 

“Yeah, go bug Keith or something,” Pidge interjected, and Lance’s patience twanged. 

“This is about Keith! That stupid mullet brain is going to lay himself lower than Allura, and no one is stopping him. He hasn’t eaten for over a day, you guys!” 

Slav, who’d been silent up to now, eight elbows deep in some unidentifiable mechanical thing that somehow managed to look like a karaoke machine, spoke up. 

“Actually, Lance is right. In 47 realities, Keith dies of starvation!” 

Alarm shot through Keith, and he held out his arms dramatically. 

“See!” 

Slav continued. “Of course, in some of those, he lives in a post-apocalyptic society, where food is scarce! Or there’s the one where he gets trapped in a hole-” 

Pidge interrupted, pointing at Slav. “See, Slav says it would take extraordinary circumstances to kill Keith. So he’s fine, now go away,” 

Lance held up a finger. “That’s _not_ what he said-” 

Hunk finally put down his thing and looked at the group with tired eyes. 

“Lance, you’ve already nagged us all to death today. What is it?” 

Lance felt his chest tighten, and he bit his lip. Everyone was stressed and exhausted, he reminded himself. Even Hunk. 

“I just wanted to lock him out of the training room. So at least he can’t kill himself on a gladiator…” 

Hunk let out a huge sigh, and stood, grabbing an all-purpose tool. “Yeah, okay,” 

Lance swallowed, and trailed along after Hunk quietly. Hunk made quick work of the door, and then turned around to see Lance’s downcast eyes. It was the first time he’d really looked at him, and Lance hated the jarred surprise that flashed through his eyes. 

“Oh, Lance…” Hunk murmured, taking up a little more of his energy to console Lance. Letting out a short breath, Lance straightened up, and tried to wipe the hurt and tiredness off his face. 

“It’s fine, man. We’re all wiped…” Lance said. Hunk put his arm around Lance’s neck, and even the hug was too much, at the same time that it was more than needed. Lance breathed in ozone and the alien grease that on Hunk was somehow familiar and not at the same time. 

“Keep doing what you’re doing,” Hunk muttered, before he let go, and slumped off back towards the work room. Lance watched him go, before letting out a huge breath. Keep on keeping on, that was Lance. 

“Okay,” he breathed, and wiped his eyes. “Okay.” 

Well, checklist then. Allura was still in bed, probably, but he still swung by the door of her chambers to gently knock. Coran answered it, with a finger already over his lips and poking into his mustache. 

“Shh,” he said, in lieu of a greeting. Lance smiled a little, and waved. 

“Just checking,” he mouthed. “Need anything?” 

Coran’s eyes glimmered, and he patted Lance’s head, before shaking his own head. Nodding back, Lance let the door shut, before breathing out again. Coran and Allura were good. Pidge, Hunk, and Slav had all eaten in the past six hours. Keith was, well, wherever he was, but at least he didn’t have access to the death room. That had to be good enough. The other group on the ship were the remaining members of the Blade of Marmora, but Lance didn’t really want to bother them. They were in another section of the ship, a place with their own kitchen and stores and stuff, and last Lance had seen, they were mourning. They’d lost a lot, more than the Paladins, if you went by just numbers. 

Okay. Everybody was accounted for, and at least not in danger of dying any time soon. Lance decided to take a moment to himself to get a tiny bit further away from breaking down. 

When he’d heard that they were landing on a planet/moon with breathable air, Lance had been thrilled to think of taking a walk outside, or maybe even finding a lake or something and swimming. Unfortunately, this place was a desert or something, and he’d been so anxious about everyone else, he han’t yet taken the chance to go out. But the fresh air would probably do him some good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whump begins... 
> 
> Thank you for the response for the previous chapter. I hope I can continue to please :) These kids are so fun!

“Argh, great! You’re out _here_?” 

The abrasive voice cut through the quiet of the flat area Keith had found to train in. He had been running through simple stretches (trying to ignore the weariness he already felt) and was preparing to ramp up to some katas he remembered. Then Lance spoke up behind him. Of course. 

Keith groaned and turned around, making the same face Lance was making. “I can’t be outside now?” he demanded, glaring and folding his arms. Lance already had his hands on his hips. 

“Training again? Dude!” Lance looked personally affronted. 

“What? _You’re_ the one who locked the door inside. If I want to train outside, I can!” 

Keith felt pleased at the flash of awareness that told him that yes, Lance had been the one to lock the training room door. Oh, he’d get him back for that. 

“You’re about to fall over, Keith!” 

“No, I’m not! I even ate!” Keith said, feeling defensive about the fact that Lance’s words from before had gotten to him enough to grab a small bowl of goo. Lance deflated, rubbing his head, which made Keith’s lingering headache flare. 

“Ughh, you’re the actual worst, I hope you know that.” 

“ _You’re_ the worst!” Keith shot back. Lance lifted his head and met his eyes, an unexpected fire in them. 

“Fine. Fine! Wanna fight, man? Cause, I bet I could knock you flat right now.” 

Keith bared his teeth. “You’re on!” He fell into a hand to hand position, one he often took with Shiro (and he tried to ignore the way his chest spasmed at the thought of Shiro, being gone, again) but Lance shook his head. 

“Nuh uh, I choose.” A finger jabbed into his collar bone. “And if I win, you have to sleep for eight hours. And, eat three meals a day that I pick out. For a week!” 

Keith ground his teeth together at the condescension, but it didn’t matter. There was no way Lance was going win. 

“Fine, and if I win, you get to stop nagging me all the damn time!” 

“Fine!” Lance pointed out to the flat desert stretch in the lee of the castle, just plains and greenish sky, and the long shadow of the castle as the sun on this planet lowered slowly. “We’re gonna race. And if you win, I’ll leave you alone to waste away since that’s obviously what you want to do!” 

Keith knew that he was already tired, and that running was never something he’d love incorporating into his training, but his fire was up. No way was he losing to Lance. 

“You mark it then,” Keith said, and Lance squinted, looking off at the field. 

“There,” he said, pointing to an alarmingly far rock jutting up. “To that rock, and back here.” He sketched out a line in the dirt. Keith took his place, and Lance crouched in a runner’s position beside him. 

“Okay, on my mark.” 

Keith crouched beside him, a small part of his brain telling him this was a bad idea. 

“Set,” Lance said, voice hard, toes grinding into the dirt. 

“Go!” 

They took off, both momentarily hidden in a cloud of dust. Keith felt his knees begin to protest already, but he forced himself faster, and faster. Lance had already pulled ahead, his long legs an advantage, plus he had obvious sprinting experience. Keith would just have to outlast him. 

Burning muscles, and a beating heart kept tempo, as they ran. Their feet pounded the desert dirt, and Keith sucked in dry air, and pushed hard. Lance’s back was too far away, his legs pumping rhythmically. Keith scowled, and stretched his own feet further with each step. 

He’d rather run himself into the ground than face what Lance was trying to do, because if he stopped, if he rested, then he might think, and have to take in what was actually going on back in the ship. Shiro was gone, again. He could be dead, and Keith would have to step up and take his place, and he didn’t want to think about that, not at all. But, he could feel himself weakening. He grimaced and pushed harder, even though he felt like he was going to give himself a heart attack, the way his chest was pumping, the wheeze in his lungs-

_CRA-ACK!_

Keith stumbled on unsteady ground, thinking for a split second that he’d fallen, or that the crack had been his sore legs breaking beneath him. But he was upright, and a terrible yelp-scream cut through his confusion. He looked up to see that the ground ahead had splintered in a terrible way, and that a sinkhole had appeared, with cracks spreading outwards. Rock and dirt heaved downwards, pulling everything into the earth. And Lance, who’d been out ahead no matter how hard Keith ran, wasn’t there. 

Keith used his momentum to dive to the side, as the ground under his own feet shattered, rolling and then painfully skidding on the rocky dirt, before everything stopped. Keith froze, wondering if what was beneath him was solid at all, before he lifted his head. He choked on dust, and had to cough. The ground stayed under him. Up ahead, towards the rock they’d been running towards, was a different story. 

The rock they were aiming for towered above them, a pillar in the center of everything Keith could see. Gravel and dirt were still sliding inwards slightly, and the area that had been a flat plain was apparently not solid ground at all, and now a massive and _deep_ hole spread before him. Lance had been right there, in what became the center of the pit. 

“Lance,” Keith breathed, and coughed on the dust. “Lance!” 

Shakily, he stood, still testing the ground, before looking back at the castle. They were further than Keith expected, but it was still within view. But, there was no way he could just wave and get their attention, and stupidly, they’d run off into an alien wild with no communicators. 

Turning back, Keith stared down into the new hole, searching for a glimpse of Lance’s hair or jacket, but it all was yellow dirt and rocks. 

“Lance!” Keith yelled, cupping his mouth. The ground under his feet shifted, and he jumped back, watching as a new slide of pebbles dropped from where he’d been standing. The whole area was unstable. 

“Dammit,” Keith whispered, panicky trembles beginning at his knees. He buried his fists in his hair. He couldn’t see Lance, he wasn’t answering, and a whole stretch of desert had just swallowed him. What if he was buried so deeply that he couldn’t breath? What if Lance was injured? Should he run to get the others, or jump down and find him? Would he be able to get him out if he did, with the way the ground slid? 

Distant coughing broke him out of his paralysis, and he sidestepped to get as close as he could to the side, peering at the bottom. 

“Lance, is that you!?” Keith yelled, and coughing answered, followed by a noise that might have been ‘duh!’ Keith felt like his chest collapsed inward in relief. Looking harder, Keith finally saw a smudge that might have been blue jeans, near the rock they’d been racing towards. 

“Lance, I see you! Are you okay?” 

Keith saw Lance shift, and was able to make out more of his body, partially buried under dirt, and then he heard a faint noise of pain. 

“Uh,” Lance called, a little too faint. “Not really?” 

“What does that mean?” Keith yelled back, anxiously pacing the edge of the pit, looking for a way down that wouldn’t get him stuck down there. Lance made a noise like a cough, and then grunt. 

“My shoulder, I think. Arm’s messed up,” Lance called, fainter still. Keith bit his lip, and looked back towards the castle once more, before he let out a breath. 

“Screw it,” he muttered, and jump-skidded down the steep slide of the pit. He brought a river of rocks and dirt with him, but the momentum stopped before he reached where Lance was prone. As soon as he stopped, he was jogging across the wide flat at the bottom of the hole, towards the pillar Lance was under. As he approached, he tried to assess Lance’s condition, but mostly he was relieved to see him breathing and not too buried. There were some bigger rocks scattered around, but none had landed near (or on) him, thank god. There were also lots and lots of twisty root things that looked dry and dead, like there used to be tons of trees here. Maybe the dying root structure had been why the ground was unstable in the first place? 

“Lance,” Keith said, stumbling to his scraped knees beside him. Lance was lying flat on his back, with a scattering of dirt across his legs and stomach. He was gripping his left shoulder, and that arm was stretched out and looked wrong somehow, and his face was pale and twisted up. He met Keith’s eyes as he leaned over him, though, and his eyes were clear without haziness or signs of concussion. 

“Hey, man,” Lance said, voice small and rough. His lips turned up at the edges. “I think I won.” 

“You’re an idiot,” Keith rasped, dipping his head and letting out a breath. He swallowed, and looked at Lance again, the awareness of how alone they were out here pulsing at him. The hole was completely in shadow too; the sun was going down, and who knew what night would be like on this planet? “Where are you injured?” 

Lance let his eyes slide to the left, and lifted an eyebrow at Keith, an ‘isn’t it obvious’ look if Keith had ever seen one. Keith rolled his eyes. 

“Your shoulder. Is it broken? Are you bleeding anywhere?” Keith hovered his hand over Lance’s white knuckle grip, hesitating on touching quite yet. Lance twitched his head. 

“Dislocated, I think. Feels, uh,” he swallowed. “Really wrong to move.” 

Keith had had basic first aid at the Garrison, and they all had gotten some brief battlefield training regarding laser blasts and things like that after becoming Voltron pilots, but all he could remember about dislocation was not to move it and wait for help to arrive. But no one knew they were out here, and the sun was going down, and Keith had no idea if this area was like his desert on Earth, but some nasty shit came out when the sun went down, and- 

“Keith, breath in, okay?” Lance sounded surprised, and Keith realized he’d been holding his breath, and sucked in one, pushing some of the fear that had just surged up away. 

“Okay, I-” Keith met Lance’s eyes. “What do we do?” 

Lance looked at him, brow pinched and pallid, but concern for Keith was the main emotion. Which was stupid, because he was the one injured, and Keith was one whose stupid pride ended them up out here. But Keith’s instincts that he usually could trust to a tee were all over the place, and there was nothing to fight when the ground was what caused your teammate to get hurt. 

“Well, I’d say we’ve gotta get back to the castle. We didn’t run that far, right?” Lance said, sucking in a breath at the end a little too fast. “Tie up a sling, get out of the hole, and just walk, right? Easy. You’ve gotta tie up my arm in a sling,” Lance said, grunting as he shifted a tiny bit. “Support it so I can move easier.” 

Keith’s jaw clenched. Dark shadows already filled the shallows of the gravel around them, and the dirt was still shifting at the edges of the holes. It had been hard to make a controlled slide down into the pit. It would be nigh impossible to climb out, especially one armed. 

“I don’t have a sling here, Lance,” Keith snapped, focusing on entirely the wrong detail, and Lance let out a breath, blowing through his lips like a horse.

“I know you’re short, but I think your jacket sleeves will work. Take it off.” 

“I’m not short!” Keith said, but he was already sliding off the jacket, understanding what he meant. He slipped off the dusty jacket, and held it up by the two sleeves, letting the body dangle. It should cup Lance’s elbow, with enough to tie it up behind his neck. But Lance was still lying down and his arm was not in a sling-like position. “This is gonna hurt you,” Keith said, and Lance half grimaced, half smiled. 

“Yup, like a mother,” he said, voice straining. “I don’t think I can sit up on my own, and it’s gonna hurt once I start moving, but just keep going. Fold up my arm, and tie the knot behind me.” 

“Okay,” Keith said, putting his hands out. Lance took a breath, and then tensed, putting his good elbow on the ground under him, and pushing himself up. Immediately, he went yellow and made a strangled noise, but Keith was already helping him keep moving, supporting the dangling left arm as well as trying to get Lance upright. Lance panted, and groaned, and then finally was slumped with his left arm cradled against his chest. 

“Hurry up and tie it,” Lance said thinly, and Keith slid the jacket up her elbow, bringing the arms up and around his neck, and opposite shoulder. Lance slowly let go of the iron grip he had on his arm, and let the jacket take the weight, before letting out a shaky breath and leaning so far over his knees that Keith caught his back to make sure he wasn’t going to topple over. 

“Ah, ha ha, that sucked…” Lance gasped with a sick laugh. “That sucked so much.” 

“Sorry,” Keith murmured, aware anew that they had _nothing_ out here. They were probably stuck, and Lance was in so much pain, and it was all because Keith didn’t want to take a break. 

“‘S not your fault,” Lance said, but Keith shook his head. 

“I was being an idiot. We wouldn’t even be out here-” 

“Keith, as much as I like hearing you call yourself an idiot, just shut up. I suggested we run, assuming the ground would stay put.” He huffed. “It’s fine.” 

It wasn’t, but Keith didn’t know what to say. Lance kept breathing, sounding more steady as the moments passed, but Keith glanced up at the sky. It was purpling, the sun getting lower and lower. There was a huge sliver of moon already above them, way bigger than Earth’s moon. It was already chilly in the shadows, how much colder would it get when the sun went down? And of course, they were out here in their civilian clothes, and not the armor with protection from the elements and temperature controls. Keith had his knife, a flint, steel, and a little box of tinder, some other random things but no rope. Lance probably had, like a pack of gum or something. Their resources were slim to the say the least, and Lance needed pain medicine, ice, and they both needed water. 

“So, how do we get out of this hole?” Lance asked, his voice almost normal sounding. Keith looked at him, leaning back against the pillar of black rock that was the only solid thing around. He wouldn’t be able to climb well, that was for sure. 

“The way I came down is too steep, but I’ll scout around,” Keith said, and Lance nodded. 

“Okay. I’ll… just stay here.” 

Keith stepped away, reluctant, and glanced up the side of the hole where he’d come down. It was steep, but maybe there was a shallow way out on the other side of the hole? Keith glanced back once more, before moving away and starting off around the circle of the pit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the wonderful comments and recs!! :) Life is crazy around here, and this fic has definitely been keeping me sane. These boys are so fun!

Lance winced as he settled back against the pillar, stomach muscles trembling as he tried not to jostle his shoulder. Geez, it hurt to move. When he first tried to get up to answer Keith, he felt the knob of his arm bone grinding against the joint, and he really really didn’t want to feel it again. He cupped his elbow, and tried to relax the shoulder, though he could already feel it swelling. 

It didn’t help that he was getting cold. He could feel fine trembles spreading along the length of his body. His teeth chattered once, and he firmed his jaw, hoping that it was just the cold and not shock. What were you supposed to do for shock again? Lay down, or keep the injury above your heart? He knew to stay warm, but his sweat was drying and the temperature was dropping with the sun, so that one was probably out. Unless Keith was okay with cuddling. 

Lance sighed. This whole thing was a mess they didn’t need. Shiro was missing, and everyone was panicking, and Lance had to go and add to it by getting hurt. He’d have to go into the healing pods, and then everyone would starve and not sleep and keel over… Not to mention, he just felt like an idiot. Argh…

He could hear Keith moving around the pit they were in, though he couldn’t see him since he was around the back of the pillar he was leaning on. The walls in front of him were a steep, (really steep) graveled slope, and he could hear the rocks still shifting from the initial collapse. It didn’t look _impossible_ to climb, were he uninjured. Maybe. Dammit. Maybe he could send Keith away for help. 

There was an extra intense noise of rockfall, and Keith shouted. Sitting up and wincing, Lance yelled. 

“Keith!” Lance listened for a moment. “Keith, you okay?” 

Keith stumbled back into view from the opposite side that he’d left, hair coated nearly yellow with the strange dust. He shook himself, and then made such a grumpy cat face that Lance had to snort. 

“I’m fine.” Keith said, crossing his arms. “But there’s no solid way out all around us. If we had a rope, maybe. The ground keeps collapsing.” 

He coughed a couple of times, and it reminded Lance of how dry his throat was. What he wouldn’t give for some water. 

“You weren’t just looking for a way for me, right? Is there a way for you to get out on your own?” 

Keith looked pained, and shook his head. “I can’t get a grip. It’s like climbing a waterfall. Plus, I’m not leaving you alone. We don’t know what’s out here, and it’s almost night.” 

“That’s… uncomforting, dude.” Lance blew out a breath, and then coughed, feeling the grit in his mouth. The jolt hurt. “Okay, so what, we’re stuck?” 

“Unless we can get a message to the lions? Think they’ll come for us?” 

Lance hummed, and felt out for the link to his lion. Blue was there, of course, a warm presence in his mind like always. It was easiest to ‘talk’ to her in the cockpit, but he could always sense her impressions. He tried to send the idea that he was hurt and needed help, but she was distant, worried but confused, unsure what to do. She promised to try to pass along the message to Yellow and Green, and from there to Pidge and Hunk. So there was that at least. 

Keith opened his eyes the same time that Lance did, a similar unrest on his face. 

“She gonna pass it on?” Lance asked, and Keith nodded. 

“I got the impression that she didn’t understand the danger, since we’re so close to the castle. But she’d pass on the message.” 

“So, hopefully, Pidge and Hunk aren’t too deep in tech stuff to hear their lions… Okay, well. Guess we just stay the night.” Lance groaned in frustration, and then a cold shiver worked its way up his spine, causing the groan to turn to a squeak of agony. Curling his good arm closer, Lance waited for the tremor to cease, before opening his eyes to see open fear on Keith’s face. 

“Don’t look at me like that,” Lance muttered, biting his lip. “Shivering hurts, and it’s cold.” 

“You need to stay warm,” Keith said, and Lance huffed. 

“Yeah, buddy. I also need a healing pod, and a drink of water, but we can’t always get what we want.” His voice carried the tune at the end almost unconsciously. 

“Did you just sing a Rolling Stones song? Now?” 

Lance shrugged with his eyebrows and mouth, not trusting his shoulder. 

“Hey, he knows pop culture.” 

“You mean ancient culture.” 

Lance shivered again, instead of chuckling, and squeezed his eyes shut. He willed his muscles to relax, but it didn’t seem to make much difference. He opened his eyes again when he heard Keith shifting around. He was gathering up the twisty root things that were everywhere, and piling it all to the side of the pillar Lance was leaning on. Then, he shoved a few rocks into a circle directly at Lance’s feet, and began shaving off some smaller pieces of root with his knife. Lance smiled. 

“You’re a real mountain man, you know that right?” 

Keith huffed. “I’m from Texas. I lived in a desert. I am _not_ a mountain man.” 

Lance rolled his eyes, but secretly he was glad to have grumpy Keith back, rather than panicky Keith. Panicky Keith made Lance want to panic himself. 

“Desert man, mountain man. Same thing. I bet you were one of those… preppers? You know, the people all ready for the end of the world? You didn’t have a zombie apocalypse bunker did you?” 

Keith rolled his eyes, and then struck the flint against his knife, and a fat spark flew onto the little pile of tinder he’d made. Keith blew on it, and the fire grew. Lance was impressed despite himself. It still wasn’t super warm yet, and judging by the darkened sky, the sun had slipped past the horizon line, and even though they’d been in shadow since the hole sunk into itself, there was a noticeable drop in temperature. Lance curled in on himself, holding his injured arm, and trying not to shake. Keith looked over at him, brow creased. 

“The fire should get going soon,” he said, picking up a medium sized stick, and holding it ready to go into the fire. Lance squeezed his side, and leaned closer to the fire, which was still bitty, through the wood was catching. 

“Not doing me much g-good yet,” Lance stuttered more than said. Keith dragged a few more large logs over, and put them on the edge of the fire, before he seemed to steel himself, and then sat down right beside Lance, pressed shoulder to good shoulder. He put his arm around Lance’s back, avoiding his other shoulder, and rubbed his other hand up and down Lance’s right arm. From this angle, Lance could see Keith’s own goosebumps scattered across his bare arms, since Lance currently had both their jackets. 

Lance decided not to say anything, but took a deep breath, trying to let the heat ease his muscles. The fire was growing, and Keith’s body heat helped. They sat like that for a few minutes, until Lance could really feel the warmth from the fire, and the urge to shiver calmed down. Then Keith pulled away. 

“I’m going to gather more wood before it gets really dark.” 

Lance lifted his eyes from the fire’s glow, and had to wait for them to adjust before he saw Keith’s pale form, clad in black, vanishing into the growing blackness. He could hear him moving out ahead; rocks scraping against his boots, and clicking together. All around him, he could still hear the gravel and dirt still settling from the collapse inwards. Almost like tons of things scuttling…

Lance jerked his eyes again from the fire, and looked around. The darkness outside the circle of firelight was absolute. The sliver of moon that had been above them was gone, maybe set now, even though the sun had only gone down a while ago. The stars were only vague scatters - either the atmosphere here was weird, or they were in a part of space that just didn’t have much above them. And immediately around him, he could see smudges that might have been the pale earth walls rising up around them. Keith was moving distantly. 

And across from the fire, at the edge of the rim of light, Lance saw a shape. Two sets of two eyes, stacked and beady, were glowing in the flicker, and Lance heard what sounded like a hiss. 

Cold rushed over him, and Lance swallowed. 

“Uh,” he whispered, eyes darting around for Keith. The thing hissed again, and he heard the rocks clatter as it moved closer. It was shaped like a lizard, the size of a young cat, and had big claws that looked like digging tools more than anything else. Its four eyes were milky white, and reflected the fire in flashes of orange. Lance stared, hoping and praying for it to turn around. “Umm, hey buddy. You’re kinda cute, aren’tcha?” 

The lizard tilted its head, and opened its mouth with another hiss, and this time Lance saw far too many needle sharp teeth. At the same moment, the thing’s tail lifted above its back, and a heavy sack and stinger combo came into the light, and that set up usually meant venom. 

Lance gulped. _Not_ cute. The lizard/scorpion/alien twitched, and scuttled forward an inch. Then it flinched back, having stepped too close to the fire. It twisted its head back and forth, looking confused, almost sniffing its way around the base of the fire. It spent some time, exploring the hot rocks at the edge, and sniffing and flinching at the fire. Lance watched it, hoping the inkling from the lectures about the desert around the Garrison were true, and that if you stood still a snake wouldn’t be able to find you. But, no such luck. 

The lizard had circled the fire, and once it was around the flames, Lance realized it was now on the same side of the fire as he was. And it knew it too. 

It suddenly zagged closer, and Lance flinched, wincing at the unnatural movement in his shoulder joint. He needed to move, oh god, he needed to run. 

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,” Lance whispered, shoving back against the pillar, and trying to get his feet under him. The thing was watching him - maybe not with those blind eyes, but sensing him. Maybe heat, maybe it could hear his heartbeat. Either way, Lance needed to get out of here, and find Keith. Hopefully he hadn’t been ambushed by one of those things without the fire to confuse it. Slowly, painfully, he stood up, gripping his elbow. 

Lance took a slow step backwards, and the lizard’s snout pointed right at the spot his foot hit the ground, picking up his vibrations. He took another step, trying to go around the pillar, and the lizard sprang. Yelling, Lance misstepped, and stumbled backwards to the ground, falling on his ass, and jarring _everything_. 

“Arghh,” Lance moaned, blinking back the blackness from his eyes. He focused to see the lizard inches away, poised to sting, sitting right between his spread legs. The stinger hovered over his right thigh. Lance froze, air a foreign concept at the sight of such a horror moments away from killing him. 

Then, a knife planted itself right between his legs, directly in the center of the lizard/alien’s body. It died with a screechy hiss, and Lance gasped, before panting out in relief. There was only one person that knife could belong to. 

“Keith, holy shit,” Lance wheezed. “You almost ruined any chance I had of fathering children…” 

Keith huffed, before emerging out of the darkness, and dropping his bundle of sticks. The lizard thing was twitching, and Lance cringed back, limp with fear and relief as Keith bent down and dragged his knife away with the thing on the tip. With it out from between his legs, Lance collapsed forward, clutching his throbbing shoulder. 

“Geez,” Keith said, perhaps impressed at the sheer awfulness of this one. “It didn’t get you, did it?” 

“Nah. Was about to,” Lance said, huffing still. “Thanks… or whatever…” 

Keith glanced at him, before sliding the lizard thing off the end of his knife, and dropping it on the other side of the fire. 

“I think when Coran said the biggest creature on this planet was cat-sized, we should have been a little more wary.” 

“Ya think?” Lance breathed. Lance was coming down from the adrenalin of a _second_ near death experience today, not to mention the pain was flaring up again from falling, and it was _still_ cold, all of which combined to make him feel a little distant and tired. “Oh man…” 

“Hey, you’re alright, right?” Keith asked, from far away, and Lance waved off his concern. Or he tried to. Maybe he got his fingers to twitch, except they were still cupping his elbow, so yeah, that probably didn’t work. Keith was closer all of the sudden. 

“Those things’re probably gonna come back, Keith…” Lance said, slurring a little, as he shivered painfully. “Shit, ‘m so cold…” 

The last thing Lance saw for a bit was Keith’s wide eyes, glinting in the firelight like the lizard’s had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All medical bits have been lightly researched, along with memories from my first aid certification last year, and the time that I half dislocated and then popped my own shoulder back in (nowhere near as bad as Lance, but yanno). I am sure did make mistakes, and the boys are not trained medical professionals anyway, but please let me know if anything is grossly inaccurate! 
> 
> The lizard things are my worst nightmares rolled into one. They just need a spider bit, and I'm gone. Sort of inspired by the Yellow Spotted Lizards in Holes. They don't care about onions tho.
> 
> I'm also operating under the assumption that the lions are semi-sentient, mechanical beasts, and don't always understand word based requests, or that their little squishy pilots can need help so close to the castle. Keith isn't in immediate danger, and they're _right there_ , so it's hard for the lions to recognize the need for them to do something. Basically, I'm trying to drag up a reasoning why the lions can't swoop in and save 'em. Hope it flies with y'all :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have been so wonderful! Thank you for the feedback, it's awesome!
> 
> The medical disclaimer still stands for this chapter. These boys are in a desperate situation, and you shouldn't do what they're doing. I did my best with the research, but if there's something terribly wrong, please let me know. 
> 
> The lizards continue to delight and terrify me, so I hope you enjoy them too :D
> 
>  
> 
> Keith's turn, and we're jumping back a tiny bit...

Keith headed away from the fire, goosebumps popping up along his arms, now that he was away from the warmth of the flames, and Lance’s side. Getting Lance’s shaking to stop had seemed to help his pain, but he’d still been able to feel his tension. It made Keith recall the way he’d collapsed after shooting Sendek… Keith rubbed his arm, and shook off the thought. 

He needed to find more firewood, and a second look around for a way out he’d missed wouldn’t hurt either. It wasn’t terribly dark, the light from the stars shining down on the landscape, and the walls rising pale around him. The gravel was still loose underfoot, and he could see the twisty shapes of the wood that he was looking for. He bent, and began scooping up what he could pile into his arms. 

He’d gathered up an armful, when he heard something. A hiss, and a scuttle, and then Keith saw a reptilian shape in front of him, glaring up at him with a mouth full of sharp teeth. And shit, was that a stinger? Keith stepped back quickly, only to have his foot collapse under him. Dropping the wood, (and scaring the lizard back for a moment) Keith looked down to see his foot had collapsed a little more of the ground, and he was up to his ankle in a hole. Luckily, he hadn’t twisted it. 

Drawing his knife, Keith stabbed the blade into the lizard, just as it lunged at him. The knife won. 

Breathing out, Keith didn’t pause to examine the lizard, he just scooped up the wood, and turned. If that thing had come after him out here, then Lance, sitting helpless by a warm fire, was in danger. 

His foot collapsed into another hole on the way back, but he was able to keep upright, and with a twinging ankle, Keith rounded the stone, and came into the circle of firelight in time to see Lance fall, and another one of those lizards leap forwards. Keith’s knife was flying before he could stop and think. 

Lance was babbling, and shaky as Keith ran up and pulled the lizard’s carcass away. This time, he took a moment to examine it, and geez, the thing was awful looking. Thick scales, and four pale eyes; sharp teeth, and that stinger. It was nasty on all ends. He dumped it on the far side of the fire, and wiped off the blade before the yellowish blood could drip anywhere - who knew what that crap would do to a human?

Lance thanked him, but he wasn’t shaking this off, and then all of a sudden, he went limp. Keith lurched forward in fear as Lance lost consciousness, grabbing him as he listed towards his left, and stopping him from falling on the dislocated arm. 

“Lance!” Keith said, a rush of alarm making his fingers shaky as he pawed at Lance’s clothing, searching for tears, bites, or sting marks. “Don’t do this.”

He’d said the lizard thing hadn’t gotten him, but what if he hadn’t felt it? He was already in pain, and not every sting or snake bite could be felt immediately, at least on Earth. But, Lance’s clothes and visible skin seemed intact, if as dusty as Keith felt. So, it was probably just stress and pain, not to mention dehydration. Keith would have traded a lot for a water packet. 

Ears tuned for any sounds of scuttling lizards, Keith pulled Lance close to his side again, and tried to warm him up, and wake him. He tapped Lance’s face, and his eyelashes fluttered. 

“Were you just… copping a feel?” Lance asked, brow twitching upwards, while the rest of his face stay stuck in tense misery. Keith rolled his eyes. 

“I will drop you.” 

Lance frowned, and opened his eyes more fully, glancing around at the fire, the night sky, and the gravel walls around them, before drifting back to Keith’s face. 

“Cradling again…” 

Keith felt his worry sharpen at the fact that Lance hadn’t yet tried to move, nor had he spoke without slurring. 

“Are you sure that thing didn’t sting you? Or bite you?” 

Lance nodded slightly. “Yeah, that Lizard-zilla had too many things…” 

“Lance.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Lance’s voice cleared as much as it had been, and he shifted. “Only pain is in my lovely shoulder. How are you?” 

Keith let out a frustrated, if relieved breath. “Peachy. I’d kill for a glass of water.” 

Lance closed his eyes again. “Oh god, don’t talk about water. My mouth is so dry.” 

Lance sounded more like himself, and Keith relaxed a little more. “I’ll probably be tasting the dust here for days.” 

“Right?” Lance agreed, before trying to pull away. Keith was still holding him up, and so he felt the way all his muscles trembled, before he groaned, and sat up on his own, hunched over his shoulder. Then he tilted his head up and looked around, peering into the darkness at the edges of the firelight, face drawn. “Keith, those things are going to come back. No way you killed just the one.” 

“Two. One tried to jump me out while I was getting the wood.” 

Lance lifted his eyebrows. “What, really? Are _you_ okay?” 

Keith nodded. “Yeah, it didn’t get me. Saw it coming.” 

“How? It’s pitch black out there.” 

“No, it’s not. Well, not completely.” Keith frowned, and looked out into the hole around them. The walls were visible, in lacking detail, and he could see the darker valleys and holes in the pit around them. “Maybe your eyes just haven’t adjusted to the darkness because of the fire.” 

Lance smirked a little, and it was good to see a more normal expression on his face. 

“Or maybe your glowly Galra eyes can see better than a human in the dark.” 

“What? I can’t see better than anyone else,” Keith protested, and Lance lifted his eyebrows. 

“Are you sure? Have you ever compared night vision to anyone?” 

Keith hadn’t, but it was such a weird thing to think about. He was still getting used to the whole idea anyway, and so much had happened since he’d gotten his confirmation that he hadn’t had much time to process anyway. Lance jutted his chin towards their surroundings. 

“I’ll tell you, sitting right here, and looking out, I can’t see quiznack. It’s nearly pitch black, and I have better than perfect vision according to my last eye exam. What can you see?” 

Keith looked at Lance, frowning. 

“I guess I can see more than that,” he said reluctantly, and Lance chuckled once. 

“I knew it, alien cat boy,” 

“What’d you call me?” Keith snapped, and Lance shook his head. 

“Anyway, I don’t just wanna sit here and get stung.” 

Keith shook off the weird argument. “I’ve got my knife. And maybe they don’t like fire.” Keith distinctly remember fighting off a few snakes on Earth with a torch. 

“Dude, my point is that I can’t even move, let alone defend myself. I couldn’t even run away from that one. We’ve gotta do something about my shoulder.” 

Keith felt his stomach drop at his tone. 

“And it’s getting urgent, anyway,” Lance said, and Keith saw the fingers of his left hand, still within the sling of Keith’s jacket, open and close. “My fingers are going numb.” At Keith’s confused look, he elaborated, looking sick. “My circulation is getting cut off, probably by the swelling… Keith, if we don’t fix my shoulder soon, I could lose my arm.” 

Keith felt the blood leave his face, and his stomach swirled with horror. His mind unwillingly went to Shiro, and his arm. The Galra had made his prosthetic, but the use of it was outweighed by the horrific implications of how he had probably gotten it. Lance wouldn’t have a Galra-made prosthetic arm, but no, he couldn’t go through something similar too… 

Keith swallowed. His first aid knowledge was spotty, and centered on knife wounds, and venomous animals (at least on Earth) but logically, they needed to get the ball of Lance’s arm bone back into the proper socket. And, since those lizard things still seemed to want a bite of them, they needed to do it quickly. Keith didn’t want to find out how those venomous stingers compared to Earth scorpions, on top of everything else. 

Lance was gripping his elbow, with his lips between his teeth, and fear his in eyes, and Keith felt a surge of protectiveness. 

“What do I do?” he asked, and Lance looked at him, letting out a breath, before pulling air in again too quickly. 

“Lay me down, and stretch my arm out at a 90 degree angle from my body. Then brace yourself, and pull. It should release back where it should be, and it’ll-” he swallowed. “-hopefully, hurt a lot less too.”

Lance was pale, sweating, even though it was cold. 

“It’ll hurt,” Lance said, thin and afraid. “Don’t stop, even if I scream, okay?” 

Keith’s stomach churned, the bowl of goo he’d managed earlier threatening to make a reappearance. Still, he nodded, knowing they had no other choice. “Okay.” 

They didn’t delay. Keith helped Lance lay down on the ground, angled away from the fire, so his side was illuminated. Then, Keith untied the sling, and moved his jacket aside, before kneeling and gripping Lance’s forearm in both hands. He made eye contact. 

“Ready?” Keith asked, and Lance looked up at him through tight eyes. 

“So, yeah, did you know that your eyes reflect like a cat’s?” Lance said, baffling Keith until he remembered their conversation from earlier. The tension that had been building sputtered with a burst of incredulous… fondness. 

“Seriously?” Keith asked flatly, making it clear he thought Lance was ridiculous. Lance even smiled. 

“What! They do. I saw them earlier…” Lance’s throat clicked as he swallowed, lightness fading away. “Okay, you gotta do it now, man, or I’m going to freeze up too much - ARGH!” 

Keith moved while Lance was still talking, firmly and smoothly straightening Lance’s arm out from his body. Without pausing, Keith started pulling. Beneath his hands, Lance’s arm shifted, the joint rolling. Lance went stiff, before he clutched at the ground with his other hand, and threw his head back. He screamed once through gritted teeth, and Keith tried to keep his breathing even as Lance’s arm moved, and then audibly _clunked_ back into place. 

Lance went limp, breathing heavily, and Keith fell sideways, panting just as hard, and trying not to throw up. That had been awful: the feeling of Lance’s bones moving under his hand was sickening. Lance let out a few broken sobs, breath not slowing down, and Keith pushed himself up to lean over him.

“Sh, sh, I’m sorry. Breathe, okay?” Keith said, brushing Lance’s hair back with shaky fingers, and to wipe away tears of pain, until Lance calmed. Lance’s right hand inched towards his shoulder, like he wanted to check if it was still there. 

“Wow, that feels better,” Lance breathed, finally catching his breath, and prodding at his shoulder. Keith guessed that everything was back in place. Lance felt all around it, and then rubbed it all gently. “Oww…” 

Understatement, Keith thought. He never wanted to see any of his team in that kind of agony again, especially since he was the one that had done it. 

“You okay?” Lance asked, and Keith snorted.

“I’m fine. Some of us can keep all our bones in the right place,” Keith said, weakly. Lance snorted. 

“Hunk was right, Galra!Keith is much funnier,” he mused, and Keith frowned. 

“I’m just the same as I always have been,” he snapped, and Lance cocked his eyebrow, looking up at him. 

“Nah, you’re nicer now. You were just caressing my face.” 

Keith frowned, and flicked said face with a pointer finger, and Lance chuckled lightly, not wincing at the movement. Lance shifted, and then pushed himself upright with his good elbow, still cradling his left arm, but with a lot less stiff agony. 

“How’d you know what to do?” Keith asked him then, as Lance groped for the discarded red jacket, and began settling it back into place around his arm. Keith leaned forward to help tie it up again. Yeah, regardless of if his joint was back in place, the sling was probably a good idea. 

Lance let his arm relax with a sigh, and then looked at Keith. “My dad had to do that to my brother. Similar circumstance, caught out in the forest with no help coming. He made sure we all knew what to do after that.” 

“Wow,” Keith said, and Lance shrugged, cracking his neck and looking so much more comfortable as he loosened up and leaned closer to the fire. 

“My dad’s an EMT, so he knew what he was doing. You didn’t do too bad, though,” he said, rolling his shoulder lightly, and wincing. Keith felt warm across the cheeks, and looked at the fire. 

“Only cause you told me what to do,” Keith muttered, and with that he remembered anew Shiro’s words, and the fact that he was missing again, and that their team was _such_ a mess right now. Fixing Lance’s arm didn’t fix everything, and they were still stuck out here. Red didn’t seem to understand that he was in any danger, since they were so close to the castle ship. Keith didn’t know if she’d passed on his message anyway, to Yellow and Green to let Pidge or Hunk know that they needed help. They were stuck in a hole, and Keith had no other ideas, and he was _tired_.

God, how was he supposed to be a leader? He couldn’t make the kind of decisions Shiro could, could he? Shiro could use each team member’s strengths to the fullest, directing them easily to various tasks, all to get a bigger goal done. Keith knew his strengths; he knew what he personally could get done. He could even command in moments, and the team listened, but his view was so immediate. He couldn’t see Shiro’s bigger picture. 

“Hey, where’d you go there?” a quiet voice intruded, and Keith looked over at Lance, sitting beside him in the firelight, looking gentle and concerned. It was so different from the boy who was usually egging him on, and teasing mercilessly. Raw, and exhausted, Keith felt himself spilling the truth. 

“How’re we supposed to get through this?” he asked, Lance glanced around. 

“Well, there’s probably more Lizard-zillas out there, and we’re still stuck in a hole, but I don’t think we’re doing too badly,” he said, with a half smile, and Keith could help by smile back just a little. Then his face fell. 

“I meant all of it. Shiro-” he felt a flash of pain, and grimaced. “Shiro’s still missing. Allura’s sick. I’m not sure I can do what Shiro asked… and no one wants me to, anyway.” His voice got quieter at the end, and he thought about each of the paladin’s reactions to him claiming leadership, just because Shiro had said so. Lance had already made his opinion clear. Hunk and Pidge might be okay with it, but they would know his inexperience, and his fear. Allura and he had reconciled, but could she trust him taking a new role so soon after the Galra revelation, or would that move look like him grabbing for power, especially if she was incapacitated while it happened? Coran would probably side with Allura…

He felt a hand on the back of his neck, near where Shiro always put his big hand. Lance’s hand was warm, and almost as long, if not as heavy. 

“Keith,” Lance said. “I didn’t mean it when I said you wouldn’t be a good leader. Shiro knows you, like, super well, and he wouldn’t make you do something you couldn’t do. And, to be honest, I think you’re forgetting something anyways.” 

Keith looked over at Lance, brow furrowed. 

“What?” he asked, and Lance’s touch at the back of his neck grew heavier. 

“Shiro may have said for you to step up in case something happens to him, be his Number One, and all that. But that definitely doesn’t mean that you have to take over Shiro’s entire position, or do all the things he did. It also doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.” 

Keith let out a breath. “But, what about the Black Lion? Someone’s gonna need to pilot her.” 

Lance shrugged. “In the future, if we… well, if we end up needing Voltron, and we haven’t found Shiro, we can cross that bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, we can’t form Voltron if you’re in Black and no one’s in Red, or if you’re still in Red, and no one’s in Black, so I can’t see if really mattering if you fly Red still. You can lead the team from there, or we can divide up the duties, or listen to Allura, or like, be a Voltron committee until we get Shiro back. We’re humans, mostly. We can adapt!” Lance threw out the hand that had been on his back, gesturing widely. “Either way, we’ll figure it out!” 

Keith felt some of the bands that had seemed to be gripping his chest loosen just a little, and slowly his anxiety eased a bit. He smiled, and looked sideways at Lance. 

“Those are… some good ideas,” he said, and Lance grinned, hooking his thumb towards his chest. 

“What can I say, I’m just full of good ideas. Call me Idea Man.” 

The come back ‘You’re full of something’ floated on the air between them, and then Keith let it go with a smile. Sometimes Lance just walked into those ones. 

“Alright, Idea Man, got any ideas on how we’re getting home tonight? I don’t really want to sleep out here, not with those lizard-things.”

“I’ve been calling them Lizard-zillas. Hey, if we’re the first people to come to this planet, does that mean I just named a species?” Lance’s voice grew excited, and Keith rolled his eyes. 

“You can’t name a species Lizard-zilla.” 

“Why not?” Lance demanded, and Keith took a moment to think about it. 

“Copyright?” he asked, and Lance laughed outright, but then Keith’s ears pricked, and he grabbed Lance’s forearm, frozen and listening. Around them, a rolling hiss surrounding their ring of light, and one by one, sets of four glinting eyes emerged in an almost full circle around their makeshift camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think there will be six chapters. I think.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay and after a cliffhanger at that! Life got crazy, and I wanted to make sure I had the next chapter ready to go before I posted this one. There will be two more after this, 7 chapters total. The whole story will probably be about 17K! 
> 
> I don't own Voltron!

Oh crap. 

Lance was super glad his shoulder felt marginally better right now, as he was pretty sure that they’d need to move. Keith immediately rolled to his feet, standing in front of Lance, with his knife outstretched in case any sprung. Lance quickly stood as well, wincing at the lingering pain at moving his arm. Yeah, this was going to be fun. 

“Quiznack, that’s a lot,” Keith said, and Lance counted upwards of ten or fifteen sets of eyes. 

“Yeah, just a couple,” Lance replied, trying to sound flippant and failing. Keith shot him a glance, looking unsettled, and Lance was right there with him. If these things decided to charge, there was no chance both of them would be able to fight them off without getting bitten, or (the real worry) stung by that massive stinger. And, these things were the biggest creatures on their planet. They probably had no real reason to be afraid of them, not like creatures their size on Earth. Not to mention, Lance would like to get them gone from his immediate area without killing the whole colony, since they probably had just lost their homes and food storage to Lance’s idea to race across their roof, and he felt a teeny bit guilty about that. 

But, they’d never encountered fire. And they seemed to navigate at least in part by heat sensing. Maybe there was a way to work with this. 

“Keith, how much wood did you bring back?” 

Keith, his back tense, glanced back at him incredulously. 

“What?” 

“I think you might be right about the fire,” Lance said, side stepping Keith, and stooping to pick up a stick from the edge of the flame. The end was burning slowly, slower than Earth wood, and that would only be an advantage. He moved closer to a couple of lizard-zillas, and swung the fire branch towards them, brushing it over the dirt right in front of their noses. He had to bend awkwardly, and give himself a tiny headrush, but like he’d hoped they hissed, and skittered backwards, not attacking the strange heat but retreating in confusion. Standing up straighter, Lance cracked a smile. This could work. 

“Gather all the wood you can find, I’ll hold them back. Then, we need to make a couple more fires, with us in the middle. From there we can confuse their approach, and defend ourselves.”

Keith frowned. “We’ll just be trapping ourselves,” he said, unhappily, and Lance shrugged his good shoulder. 

“We’ll survive the night, at least. Unless you wanna run?” 

Keith glanced around, face already saying there was no way to climb out. Lance still didn’t know if he believed him when Keith said that he couldn’t make it out, and he wasn’t just saying that because Lance had a bum shoulder, but it didn’t really matter right now. 

Lance swiped at an approaching lizard-zilla, and Keith hardened his face, and turned towards the scattered roots he’d brought back, stacking them into a pile between Lance and the closer things. He struck the flint twice before it caught, and meanwhile, Lance had to swipe at a lizard who got brave, and lunged for Keith’s elbow. Lance pretended he didn’t hear the way Keith’s breath caught, and he flinched back, before continuing the fire building. He got the first going, and moved to a second. 

They were penning themselves up against the pillar of stone. The thing seemed smooth enough that no lizards would crawl up and over that way, and the base was wide enough for them to sit, and bar the sides with two more small fires. That left two gaps, between the three fires, and a small warm area for the two of them. 

The lizard-zillas _were_ pretty mesmerized by the fire, but not enough to be fully distracted from the two soft squishy people with yummy blood or whatever the lizards wanted to do to them. Keith was setting the last fire with ease, and Lance watched the line of lizard-zillas outside the fire’s light for any that scuttled closer, but nothing moved, except Keith, who leaned back, and wiped his brow. Lance slumped, and blew out a breath. 

“Wow, I can’t believe that worked…” he said. They were enclosed behind three fires, with a stack of wood for the night. Hopefully it would last. Keith bristled, turning to look up at him from where he still crouched. 

“You didn’t think it would work?” he snapped. Lance chuckled, far too tired and sore to rise to the bait. 

“Just winging it, my man,” he said, changing the grip on his torch. He didn’t want to put it down, but he dearly needed to sit. “Here, take this,” he said, holding out the torch, and Keith did, still growling as he stood and took Lance’s place at guard. Lance eased himself down, but still jarred his arm as he sat. He whimpered, and rubbed the shoulder. God, he couldn’t wait for a bed. 

Keith was tense as a bowstring as he stood behind the line of fire, watching the animals move around out there. He held the torch out, kinda looking like a weird Statue of Liberty, dressed in his black clothes. Lance leaned his head back, and kept his eyes on him, reading the anger in his shoulders, and the way his head was bowed. Lance wasn’t sure if it was at him, or if it was just the stress of the whole day boiling him over. 

“Dude, calm down,” Lance said, half to himself, but Keith heard, and whipped around. 

“Calm down? Do you not remember where we are right now? We’re stuck out here, you’re hurt, and we’re surrounded by crazy lizard monsters, all because you wouldn’t leave me alone!” Keith nearly shouted. Lance’s eyes widened, and he jerked his chin down, the hurt shooting through him. 

“Hey, I just-” Lance said, but Keith was waving the fire stick around, scattering sparks, and making the lizards hiss with the volume of his fuming. 

“You’re hurt, and it’s so stupid that we’re even out here! The castle is right there, and we can’t get to it! And now these _stupid_ lizards are going to eat us, and Voltron will fail even more than it was already!” It was likely he wasn’t even mad at Lance, but just had reached his breaking point, as exhausted as he was, but he still was hitting all the right buttons. Keith’s rant was picking up steam. 

“We’re going to _lose_ to Zarkon, and the galaxy will fall, and we’re never going to find Shiro-” 

Keith’s sharp voice was getting suspiciously thick, even as he turned back towards the fires and the lizards, and Lance was about done with the doom and gloom. It was a bit too close to the thoughts he tried to push away. It was unfortunate that catastrophic thinking had such a high chance of becoming reality, at least in their line of work.

“Keith, enough!” Lance said, loud enough to carry. “Geez, lighten up.” He should have said something more comforting, more suitable to breaking Keith out of a panic spiral, which was obviously what this was turning into, but his chest was hurting, and his shoulder was throbbing, and he didn’t have the energy for that, thank you very much. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I bothering you?” Keith turned around, snarling, and Lance lifted his chin. 

“Yes! You’re being an idiot, and panicking isn’t going to help us anyway!” 

“I wasn’t panicking!” 

Lance sighed, and rubbed his head. Great, a headache to join in the fun. He replied, in a voice low enough to make Keith pause. 

“Yeah, you were.” Lance breathed in evenly only through lots of practice. He pretended not to watch as Keith rubbed his arm across his eyes. Lance rubbed his shoulder, and realized he was uncomfortably warm in the two jackets (wearing one, and the other draped across him as a sling) in the middle of three fires, and deflecting fire from a hot head next to him. Sweat stuck to his lower back, and under arms, and he could feel his face flushing. Keith looked warm too, even in only a tee shirt. Well, at least they weren’t going to freeze now. 

Lance started squirming, trying to get out of his jacket that he was wearing, without messing up the sling, or his hurt shoulder too much. He’d managed to get his right elbow through the sleeve hold, when Keith ‘tched’, eyed the lizards and then jammed the torch into the ground, before he knelt down to help without a word. He pulled it off with a gruff gentleness that might have surprised Lance six months ago. Sighing, and leaning back on the cool rock, Lance spoke into the heavy silence, as Keith sat near him. 

“Look. I want Shiro back too. And sometimes… most times, I’m not as put together as I pretend to be. And what helps is making sure that everyone else is okay, and I know, I get it, I could tone it down, and not be so naggy, and dammit, even Hunk got pissed at me earlier,” Lance said, with a clench of unhappiness. “But, I’m trying, okay? I know this whole thing is my fault-” 

“It’s not.” Keith said, his eyes suddenly on Lance’s, and looking way too intense. 

“What?” Lance stammered, flustered under his gaze. 

“It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have said that,” Keith’s eyes slid away, looking down at the ground. “I’m sorry.” 

Lance’s eyebrows lifted. “Wow.” Immediately, Keith’s scowl was back. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped, and Lance wiggled his fingers in the air, trying to wave away the misunderstanding. 

“Sorry too. I just… yeah, I’m sorry. It’s not like you’ve never apologized before.” 

Keith looked profoundly miserable, and Lance honestly, got it. He understood people being taken aback because you showed an ounce of feeling that you usually didn’t. He knew Keith cared, deeply, about a lot of things. Just like Lance did. He knew that people didn’t realize that about him - that they took his face persona for truth. And Keith was easy to read past the scowls and folded arms, but he just jarred against Lance’s insecurities in a way that always had them blowing up at each other. It really was stupid. 

Lance let out a breath, before the quiet abruptly got too quiet, and Keith just looked so dejected, sitting there with the torch out in front of him on the ground, eyes down. Lance sucked in a breath to start talking, probably about something ridiculous and off topic, he hadn’t quite thought of it yet, when Keith spoke. 

“You weren’t winging it,” he said in a low voice, and Lance blinked, glancing at him beside him. 

“What?” 

Keith twitched, and he was close enough to him that their elbows brushed. 

“You… you’ve had a plan this whole time.” Keith said this like it was a realization on the spot. “And you had all those ideas, too. Even when you were hurting, you told me what to do. You came up with the plan on the Balmera, and Hunk told us how you got that mermaid planet free of the mind control thing.” 

Lance was feeling very warm in the face now, squirming as Keith kept talking. Why was he saying this? 

“Wha… those times were flukes, or luck or something,” Lance said, trying to brush it off. And yet, pride warred with the disbelief. It felt good to be recognized, especially by Keith. 

Keith turned his head. 

“No, they weren’t,” he said, holding Lance’s shrinking gaze. “The team needs you, if we are gonna make it through this.” 

Lance laughed, in discomfort more than humor. “Yeah, sure.” 

Keith elbowed him, not hard, but a little jarring, even to his uninjured side. 

“I’m serious. Lance, I’m...” Keith swallowed, looking supremely uncomfortable. Lance could relate. “I’m realizing that you put yourself down a lot, and it probably happens more in your head than out loud. Neither of us are as strong as we pretend to be, so let’s just stop, okay?” 

Lance was staring, and dammit, his eyes were pricking too. Keith was really, and truly looking at him, and it was terrifying. Lance rubbed his wrist across his eyes. 

“I’m not sure if I can,” Lance whispered, and Keith put his hand on his shoulder. There was a long moment’s pause, and Keith bit his lip. 

“I’m… Shiro is like a brother to me, he practically raised me, and last time he disappeared, I got him back. What if that was my only second chance?” He took a sharp breath, eyes on the flames. “I’m so... so, scared that I’ll never see him again. I didn’t mourn him last time, even though everyone said he was dead, but this time, it feels like I’m tipping over the edge of a cliff, and if I stop, if I rest, if I think about him too hard, I’ll start to cry, and I’ll never stop.” 

Two big tears rolled down Keith’s face as he spoke, and his voice was small but honest. Lance felt the emotion get thick in his throat, and he bit his lip as Keith took a breath, and then closed his eyes and sobbed once. Lance’s breath gusted out of him too, and he couldn’t help but reach out his good arm, and pull Keith into a hug, pressing his wet face into Lance’s neck. Keith’s back hitched a few times, before relaxing a little. Keith pulled back, rubbing his free hand over his face. He still looked scared and miserable, but his eyes were clearer. 

Lance’s chin wobbled, as he spoke. “We’re going to find him,” he managed, hoping it sounded like he believed it. “And when he gets back, we’re going to handcuff him to a chair.” 

Keith snorted, and then looked like the burst of humor surprised him. Lance smiled, and pushed his knuckles against Keith’s head. Keith ducked away, and mussed Lance’s hair, not that it mattered since they were covered in dust anyway. Then, he settled, picking up the torch again, and looking out at their line of defense. They couldn’t see any lizards at that moment, and Lance wondered briefly if they would make it out of here. 

“He’s coming back,” Keith said into the darkness. Lance smiled. 

“Yeah, he is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for the feedback and kind and encouraging words! This is my first time writing Voltron, but it definitely won't be the last, and I'm looking for ideas for my next thing. If you have anything you'd like to see (sequel possibilities, other prompts or things to explore, etc), let me know :) 
> 
> You are the best!
> 
> And I keep forgetting, but I post and reblog some Voltron stuff on my tumblr too.   
>  [Check me out here!](http://arisprite.tumblr.com/)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so there's going to be a sequel to this! And in the vein of the Hobbit - LOTR, the second part will be much broader, and more complicated, and I ended up having to plot a good chunk of it, before the ending of this one would work, so sorry for the delay. I have one more chapter of this, and then I will go directly into the next story, though there will likely be a delay for me to get a few chapters written, and make sure the plot is working. 
> 
> Thank you thank you for the kindness in the comments on the last chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this penultimate installment!

They (lizards included) were quiet for a while after that. Keith got a hold of himself, half mortified that he’d broken down like that, but the rest of him was relieved. He was glad that someone else knew those thoughts, and fears. Somehow, Lance had helped, and even that wasn’t as surprising as he might have thought a few months ago. Lance was perceptive, when he wanted to be, and understanding when he felt like it. They butted heads often, Keith knew that, but tonight, Lance had _looked_ at him, and seen who he was. It’d been raw feeling, but good. 

So, while the lizards seemed to give up on charging (though he knew they were still out there, eyes glinting in quadruple), Keith leaned back on the stone pillar behind him, shoulder to shoulder with Lance. God, he was exhausted. The fires were uncomfortably warm on all sides of him, but the wood was burning well. The silence and waiting were making his eyes heavy. He’d been tired before this mess, and now it was late into the night. Or at least, his own personal clock said it had been hours - he had no idea about this planet’s day/night cycle. Maybe the sun would rise soon? 

Beside him, Lance was quiet, but not relaxed. Keith blinked haze out of his eyes, and took in the other boy’s stiff stance, and the way he held his injured arm in a ginger cradle. His face was pallid in the orange light of the fires, and he was sweating. Keith grimaced, but there wasn’t much to be done. 

Then, the lizards began hissing again, shifting and scuttling back and forth, like they gotten an order to attack or something. Keith tensed, gripping the torch he still held tighter, and getting ready to stand. Keith could see even more eyes out there, all in sets of four. 

“Geez, what do they even want with us?” Lance said, gripping his shoulder. Keith didn’t want to think of it. 

“I don’t think the fires will hold them off for much longer. We’ve gotta do something.” Keith drew his knife, and made sure the torch he held was still full and bright. Then he bent, and grabbed another longer stick out of the fire, holding it out for Lance. Lance took it, jaw tight, and Keith helped him stand. The lizards reacted to their movements with an increased collective hiss. 

Then, the first brave one came close, and passed through the gap between the fires on Keith’s side. Keith bent and swiped at it, sending it scuttling back, but not very far. It hissed at him aggressively, and stepped forward again, joined by three others. Beside him, Keith heard Lance swear, and figured he was seeing the same on his side. 

“Got any ideas?” Lance asked, sounding breathless. Keith hit a lizard with the torch, sending it flying to land on its back. He tried not to think about how close the stinger had been to his hand as he whacked the lizard. 

“I thought you were the idea man?” Keith grunted, kicking a lizard in the side as it came close. Sharp teeth snapped at his toes. 

Lance laughed once, sounding utterly not amused. “I’m fresh out,” he said, voice pained. He was still hurting, and his ducking and swinging style of fighting couldn’t be comfortable. Keith _didn’t_ wish the lizards were bigger, but at least then he’d be able to fight them without bending down. 

God, what were they going to do? Keith stepped back, and felt the ground buckle under his feet, like it had while he was gathering wood. And just like that, an idea did come to him. Wait. Quickly, Keith glanced down at the ground, and saw the uneven dirt and gravel give where he’d been stepping. The ground was still unstable, probably riddled with tunnels from these guys’ digging. Then, he looked up, at the stone pillar that had been their base since this started. It was narrow and tall, taller than the edge of the pit. Was it possible…” 

Keith whipped around, and threw all his weight into a heavy kick on the side of the stone. Lance paused in his defense to give him a look. 

“What was that?” he demanded. Keith grinned sharply, because he’d felt what he hoped. 

“The rocks unstable, just like the ground. It shifted when I kicked it.” 

“Okay, so?” Lance said, hitting a lizard hard enough to send it into the fire. 

“Can you handle defense by yourself?” 

“Uh…” 

Keith flipped his knife, and drove it into the ground at the base the stone. They’d been leaning on it this whole time, but it was their ticket out of here. Lance swore again, and kept fighting behind him, but Keith trusted he had his back. 

“Keith, a little explanation would be nice!” Lance yelled, and Keith shoved more dirt out of the way with the blade. He’d already come across a hollowed out tunnel, lizard sized, and collapsed it. He was making good time. 

“The rock is tall enough to make a bridge out of here. If I can get it to fall over, we can climb it out.” 

Keith stabbed the ground deeper, widely, trying to destabilize anything he could. He knee collapsed into a tunnel, and he shifted over. 

“You think you can get that to fall?” Lance called, and Keith prayed it was true. 

“Yes.” 

For a moment, there was just the sound of Lance grunting and the scrape of luxite against rock. With the help of the tunnels that were already there, Keith had a pretty deep hole at the base, stretched wide across the half facing them. The rock seemed unsteady. This could work.

“Keith!” Lance yelled sharply, and Keith turned around to see Lance staring out across the fire. Keith twisted further to see what he was looking at, because his face was slack with fear. Then he saw it. It was another lizard, but this one was twice the size of the others. Keith desperately took back the half wish for the lizards to be taller - this thing was huge, and moving towards them slowly. Keith felt cold. 

“Quiznack, Keith, that’s as big as a doberman,” Lance said, gripping his torch. His only weapon. “I thought Coran said there was nothing bigger than a cat.” 

“You know, Coran doesn’t actually know what a cat is,” Keith snapped, and then he watched Lance slip his other arm out of the sling, and pick up Keith’s abandoned torch. 

“I’m going to need both arms,” he said, wincing. Keith frowned for a moment, before glancing back at that thing. It was still on the other side of the fire, and the smaller lizards had fallen back to its side. Four eyes were watching Lance’s every move. 

“Keep digging, Keith. I’ve got this,” Lance said, and Keith nodded, and flew back to his hold, jamming the knife into the ground, and tearing through the dirt as best as he could. Above him, the rock pillar wobbled, and Keith looked up, before digging again. 

*~*

Lance took a breath, holding both torches out in front of him. Sweat was dripping from his hairline and into his eyes, probably leaving trails in the dust on his face, like the sweat and tears had done for Keith. His left arm was trembling and the joint was on fire, and throbbing, almost as bad as it was when he first dislocated it, but he could move it. Even through the pain, he could hold the torch, and with the true lizard-zilla in front of him, plus all the small ones surrounding it, he was going to have a hard enough time without one arm strapped down. 

Lance bent and swiped both torches as three small lizards zig-zagged around the nearest fire, and tried to rush him at once. Moments later, he turned as two more tried the same from the other side. With one person watching their whole circle, he needed eyes on the back of his head to keep track of them all, and Lance was 90% sure that they had some level of intelligence or strategy going on here - why else would they call their leader, and then attack in waves? It didn’t help that they were well and truly surrounded, and the lizards climbing on top of each other to get near, and some even braving the hot stones around the fire, squealing as their feet burned, but advancing nonetheless. 

And then there was the bigger, more than twice the size of the others, like the queen of a hive. Heh, Queen Lizard-Zilla. The thing had knobby scales, and a mouth of teeth that could eat a whole watermelon. Those digging claws could have torn Lance’s whole arm off. Lance truly didn’t know what they’d do when that thing moved in. 

But, Keith was determinedly digging at the base of the rock, and Lance hoped and prayed that he would be proven right. Really really soon. 

Lance bent and swiped the torches one way and then the other, panting in the heat and pain as lizard after lizard scuttled closer. Then he turned, and got four more in the eyes, making them scream uncannily. Then, while he was bent over to the left, his right ankle erupted in a burst of pain. 

“Shit!” Lance looked down to see a lizard, mouth clamped on his leg, in the gap between his jeans and shoes, and the stinger was raised and ready to fall. Lance slammed the torch onto his own leg, the burns nothing compared to the need to get that stinger away from his skin, oh god, get it off! He kicked and the lizard went flying. Lance took a moment to reel back the desire to scream and/or puke, before he had to kick a couple more lizards into the fire. 

“What happened?” Keith yelled, his entire upper body nearly bent into the hole he was making. Lance shivered, and shook out his foot, still feeling those needle-like teeth, throbbing in a semi-circle. 

“One bit me. D’you think the bites are poison too?” Lance asked faintly, and Keith twisted around. 

“Are you okay? Did you get stung?” Keith asked, panic-sharp. Lance looked down, and he could see spots of red on his jeans, but they weren’t growing, and he could still stand. Still, he shuddered again. That stinger had been close. 

“I’ll be okay for now. It didn’t get me.” Lance dove at a trio of lizards making a run for Keith’s back, and sent them in the other direction. Keith tensed, and kept digging, while Lance whirled and got another couple coming up the side. 

“Worst. Game. Of. Whack a Mole. Ever,” Lance said, hitting a lizard with each word. He really hoped Keith’s plan worked, and soon. 

Then, Lance swallowed in horror. The big one, the Queen Lizard-zilla had moved. It was quicker than Lance had imagined, and scuttling at a diagonal angle to the middle fire, hissing with a deep rolling rattle. All Lance had were two torches. Keith had a knife, but Lance wasn’t even sure that could do any damage to that thing. It seemed to make eye contact, and then opened its mouth and showed off its teeth. Of course, they were bigger than the needle-like ones of the little dudes, but they still looked as sharp as Lance had felt a moment ago. Breathless with fear, Lance held the torches out, standing between Keith, and that thing’s path, teeth bared. 

“Stay back!” Lance yelled, in case that helped in the slightest. It didn’t. But something did change when he yelled; he heard Keith shove a bunch of gravel out of the way, and then there was a massive **CRACK** like the first time the ground collapsed. Lance turned, and saw what was about to happen in a long moment that lasted a split second. 

The Queen lizard was lunging at them, from over the middle fire with a mighty leap. Keith was kneeling, turned towards him and staring in horror - they made eye contact and Lance glimpsed Keith’s realization that they were about to die. Lance wondered if Keith could see that thought in his eyes too. And then, above Keith, the rock was leaning forward, like a tree finally ready to fall after a long day of sawing it down, directly over Keith. 

Lance dropped the torches, and dove, dragging and rolling with Keith until he prayed they were out of the way, covering him with his own body. The stone pillar fell to the earth with mighty crash, at just the right angle to crush the lizard queen with a horrendous crunch. The rest of the lizards were either also smashed, or scattered. Everything was quiet again. Lance opened his eyes, and saw dust swirling, and the light growing. The night was over. 

Keith squirmed beneath him, and Lance rolled to the side, groaning at his arm, shoulder, and ankle, and exquisite amount and types of pain he was feeling in each and every body part. Wow. Beside him, Keith sat up, scattering dirt and dust, and stared. Lance’s curiosity got the better of him, and he levered himself up too, to see the pillar at an angle on the edge of the pit, like they’d hoped. But even with that angle, it had still crushed the massive lizard, and left it sizzling lightly on top of the middle fire. 

“It worked?” Keith said, and Lance chuckled, letting his head fall backwards and hang. The sky was turning pink. 

“Yeah, buddy,” he breathed. Keith turned to him, his face going from an adorable wonder to concern in a heartbeat. 

“You got bit?” 

Lance looked down towards his leg. “I don’t think their teeth are poison, but I am definitely looking forward to a round in the pods.” 

Keith nodded, and stood. Lance noticed that his fingers were dirty and bleeding There were still lizards around, milling kinda aimlessly now that their queen was dead. It didn’t seem like they even noticed them anymore. Lance briefly wondered if it was a hive mind situation? Had they just killed the whole colony? Then again, they’d just had a night of terror because of those lizards, and anyway bees could find a new queen… Whoo, geez, he needed to sleep. 

“It looks like we can climb out,” Keith said, getting to his feet. He looked shaky, movements sluggish. 

“Hope so,” Lance breathed. Keith nodded. Once he was standing, he reached down, and Lance let himself get dragged to his feet with _much_ difficulty. Keith put his arm around his waist, and let him drape his good arm around his shoulder. Together, they turned towards the rock, now acting as a ramp. Rock-ramp. Lance smiled about that to himself. 

The sun was truly rising now, and it peaked over the horizon just as he and Keith crested the edge of the pit, stumbling up the column of stone (narrow enough that it was hard to walk side by side without worrying about falling), blinding them just as they stepped onto the flat ground. A breeze hit them, and the castle was ahead in all its splendor. 

“We made it,” Keith breathed, and Lance nodded. 

“Good job with the stone-falling-over-rock-ramp plan,” Lance said, gripping Keith a little tighter as his shoulder spasmed. “You got us out of there…” Lance gasped a little at the end of his sentence, as the pain from both his ankle and shoulder intensified. Keith held him closer. 

“It wouldn’t have worked if I’d gotten jumped by lizards the moment I started digging. You really had my back,” he said, simply. Lance blinked at a moment of deja vu. 

“Didn’t I say we made a good team?” he said, and Keith rolled his eyes, his smile growing. 

“You said you forgot.” 

“It’s coming back to me. Must be the near death experience and bodily pain.” Lance took a careful step forward, and Keith began walking them towards the castle. The going would obviously be slow, but the castle was right there. Lance could almost taste the goo. 

Up head, two jet streams left the castle, yellow and green blurs streaking towards them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longest chapter yet! This one jumps back and forth in POV, and wraps up this current plot. Thank you for reading!

Keith opted to wait for Hunk and Pidge to reach them, rather than try to keep walking forward. His whole body ached, especially his torn fingernails, and his head pounded. Still, he was positive that Lance felt ten times worse. Even so, Lance was smiling as Yellow and Green kicked up the dirt, and landed gently on either side of them. Keith was worried, momentarily, that the weight of the Lions would collapse the ground again, but it was solid underneath the giant metal feet. Keith let out a breath - he didn’t think he could take falling into another hole. 

The hatches opened on the Lions simultaneously, and then Hunk and Pidge were tearing out, looking wild eyed. 

“You guys!” Hunk cried out, running over. “Holy Quiznack, you’re alive, oh my god!” He stumbled to a stop without touching Lance, who he was closest to. 

Pidge approached from Keith’s side, looking close to angry tears as she reached them. “What were you _doing_ out here?” she demanded, and then faltered when she took in their full state. “What _happened_ to you!?” 

“Hey guys,” Lance said, wiggling the fingers of the arm around Keith’s shoulder. Keith huffed, before gingerly shrugging at Hunk and Pidge. That broke them out of their surprise, and together they jumped forward and folded them both into tight hugs. Lance grunted in pain, but tightened his arm, and didn’t let anyone pull away. Keith felt his emotions float close to the surface again, as Hunk continued to murmur about how scared he’d been when they couldn’t find them. 

“And then you guys weren’t _anywhere_ and it was getting late, and then Pidge said her lion was doing something confusing, so I listened to Yellow, and oh geez, they said you were in trouble, but they only said something like you were _here_. Which you weren’t, you were out here, but-” 

“Hunk,” Lance said, voice tight. “It’s okay, you found us.” 

Hunk pulled back from the hug, a hand on each of their shoulders, at least until Lance went paler, and cringed away from his touch. 

“Sorry!” Hunk exclaimed, and Lance smile-grimaced. 

“I’m okay,” he said, short of breath. He was a little bit heavier against Keith’s side. “Just ready to get back.” 

Hunk looked miserable, and Pidge, who’d pulled back as well, looked between them all. 

“Let’s get going. But I demand the story, once you’re better.” 

Lance nodded, which set him swaying a little. The motion had Keith stumbling a little, and Hunk steadied them both, this time his hands gingerly on Lance’s chest, and Keith’s shoulder. 

“It’s a doozy,” Lance mumbled. “Wasn’t it, Keith?” Lance’s arm was heavy around Keith’s neck. 

“Yeah,” Keith said. “It was.” 

*~*

They entered the healing bay slowly, with Hunk leading the way with Lance’s arm now around his shoulder, and Pidge helping Keith. Keith was walking mostly under his own power, which was good because if he went down, he wasn’t sure Pidge could catch him, at least not comfortably. Keith was watching Lance’s pained steps ahead of him, unable to miss how his ankle was obviously tender to walk on where he’d been bitten, and he was moving slowly to not jostle his arm. 

“Coran should have the healing pods set up for you both,” Pidge said to him as they walked in. Coran’s head turned at the sound of their entrance, his face immediately creasing in worry. 

“Lance! Keith!” Coran exclaimed, coming over with his hands tangled in front of him. “My goodness, boys, you do look dreadful!” 

“Thanks, Coran,” Lance half smiled, eyes half lidded. Coran tutted, and brushed some dust off Lance’s hair, before patting his cheek gently. 

“You should try not to make a habit of this, my boy,” Coran said, voice turning stern. Lance half winced, looking sheepish. 

“I’ll try,” Lance said, and Keith didn’t like the unsurety in his voice. He damn well better try. Coran accepted it though, and helped him to the table to examine and change. Keith was sat down as well, and watched as Lance climbed into the pod with a little swallow of apprehension, and then was frozen over by the strange machine. It was as unsettling as the first time, but at least those red points of damage on the scanner were already beginning to shimmer as they began to heal. 

“How long will he be in there?” Keith asked, and Coran tapped the display. 

“Oh, it looks like only about three hours. His major wound was a displaced shoulder joint, but it’s back in place now, so the pod is really working on the swelling and other abrasions.” 

“He had a bite wound on his ankle too.” 

Coran leaned in. “Yup, that’s not too major, looks like. He’s going to be fine.” 

Triple sighs of relief sounded, and Keith immediately felt his exhaustion mount. He was ready to fall into bed hours ago. Hunk and Pidge both stepped up into his line of sight, their faces still worried. 

“Okay, so what happened out there? The Lion’s scanners didn’t show any other big life forms near you when we picked you up, but you said Lance got _bit_?”

Keith winced. “It was the small life forms we were worried about. There were these lizards, with stingers like scorpions. Hundreds of them, probably.” 

“They trapped you?” Pidge asked, looking interested. Hunk looked paler at the word scorpion. Keith half shrugged. 

“Well, once we were trapped in the hole we fell in, it was pretty easy to corner us…” 

They both blinked. “You fell in a hole?” Pidge asked, and a smirk was threatening. 

“Well, Lance did. In his defense, the ground collapsed. We were running. Then, once I jumped in, there was no way to get out.” 

“That’s how his shoulder got dislocated, I presume?” Coran interjected, having been listening in. Keith nodded. “And did you put it back in place?” 

“Lance told me how.” 

Coran’s hand came down on his shoulder: a grounding weight. 

“It was well done. Exactly where it needed to be!” 

Pidge opened her mouth, probably to ask more questions about holes, and scorpion lizards, but Coran held up his other hand. 

“Now, now, Number Five. I do believe our Number Four has earned a nip in the pod as well.” 

Keith blinked, and realized he’d been staring at the space beside Pidge’s face, and shook himself. 

“I’m fine, I just need to sleep…” 

Coran frowned. “You weren’t injured at all?” 

“Just tired, and some scratches. I’ll be fine,” Keith promised. Coran looked him over with searching eyes, but then nodded. 

Very well. Hunk, would you help him to his room?” 

“No problem, buddy,” Hunk said. Keith sighed in relief, and then wondered how he was supposed to stand, with the way his legs felt like jelly. Hunk seemed to read his issue, and put his hands under Keith’s arms, he pulled him to his feet again. Keith stood steady as best he could, and resisted the urge to lean into him. Together they began walking slowly towards the door. But, before he could step more than two paces, it slid open and Allura came striding in. She then stopped, looking started to see them coming towards her, and took a double take at the state Keith was in. Her eyes whipped to Coran. 

“Why is nobody manning the bridge? We’re being hailed,” she said, sounding like her old self, if a little tired still. Her hair was completely down, and smudges were visible under her eyes. Those eyes turned back to Keith, and then Lance in the healing pod. 

“What happened while I was ill? Why are Keith and Lance hurt?” she demanded, and Coran jumped forward with an explanation. Keith didn’t think he could go over it again, not without sleeping first, so he just started walking again. Hunk patted his back, and called back to Coran that they were leaving, and walked with Keith out into the halls. 

Hunk didn’t have to support him on the way to the corridor with the paladin's bedrooms, but it was a near thing, as Keith’s whole body felt like lead. Hunk kept glancing at him as they walked, and the third time Keith caught his eye, he spoke. 

“What is it?” he asked, probably a little too abrupt. Hunk started, and then gave him a concerned look. 

“I just wanted to, well, you _are_ okay, right? It sounded like it got pretty terrifying out there. And I know it’s been hard for you lately…” Shiro was still gone, Hunk meant. Keith felt that knot of emotion again, that tiredness wasn’t letting him control, and he cleared his throat hard. 

“I’m fine,” Keith said, “Or as fine as I can be. I just want to sleep.” 

“Okay,” Hunk said. Keith sighed, and then remembered something else. Something he wanted to start before he went to sleep. 

“Hey, you’re Lance’s friend, right?” he started, and Hunk stared at him for a moment. 

“Uh, yeah, dude. You are too.” 

Keith rubbed his face. “Yeah, of course. I mean, he talks to you?” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Hunk said, sounding confused. Keith had reached his bedroom door now, and so he stopped and leaned on the frame, looking back at Hunk. 

“He’s going to get out of the pod before I wake up, but could you make sure… make sure he’s okay? I think he’s going through some stuff too. He was saying some things…” Keith asked, folding his arms. Hunk was staring at him, completely nonplussed, and Keith felt a blush rise up on his cheeks. “What?” he demanded, after the stare from the other paladin had gone on a beat too long. 

“Oh, there you are,” Hunk said, uncomfortably blunt. “I wondered what you did with Keith for a second.” 

Keith glared. “Would you just check on him?” 

Hunk lifted his hands in surrender. “Yeah, of course. But why don’t you? It sounds like you guys had another bonding moment out there?” 

Keith dropped his arms. “No!” 

Hunk smiled at his defensiveness. “Did you, like, share your darkest secrets out there? Did anyone cry?” 

Keith’s hackles rose, and so did the heat in his cheeks. Hunk laughed. 

“Oh my gosh, you did!” 

“Stop,” Keith growled, and Hunk waved a hand in the air, calming himself. 

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just, you know, cliche. Two guys, surrounded by imminent death, making emotional confessions, crying on each other’s shoulders, the whole nine yards.” 

“ _Okay_ ,” Keith said, finally turning towards the door. Thing was, Hunk was right. He’d broken down completely in front of Lance, and Lance had helped. He’d said the right things, and been there to literally cry on. Keith thought he should probably feel more embarrassed about it (though he was still blushing from Hunk’s teasing) but he really just felt grateful to Lance. Lance was so much more impressive than he thought of himself. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw Hunk tap his finger to his lip. 

“You know what, I do think Galra!Keith is a lot more open. You know, emotionally.” 

Keith let out a breath, his shoulders dropping, before he glanced back, lip twitching upwards. 

“You ever think that your guys’ acceptance of my being Galra made it easier to be open?” he said, quiet and honest. Hunk stared, before his eyes literally got wobbly, and suddenly Keith was swept up in another hug, this one encompassing and awkwardly sideways. 

“Ah, Hunk! Put me down!” Keith struggled, kicking out. Hunk squeezed him tighter. 

“Noope! I gotta get in on this bond with Keith thing.” 

“Argh!” Keith growled, and then went limp, until Hunk put him down. He may have patted Hunk’s back a couple of times. Once he was back on his feet, Keith swayed a little, before Hunk put both hands on his shoulders, and steering him into his room. 

“I’m glad you’re safe, Keith,” Hunk said, before giving him a little push that nearly made him faceplant onto his bed. “Now go to sleep before you fall over. And I’ll talk to Lance too, see if he’ll tell me what’s bothering him.” 

“Thanks,” Keith said, not sure if he meant for wishing him well, or getting him to bed, or for promising to talk to Lance, but he was a bit far gone by that point. He barely managed to strip off his clothes and try to shake out the dust as best he could, before he let himself fall into bed. Lance would be glad to hear that his goal for winning the race, and his plan on getting him to sleep, had absolutely worked. 

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lance stumbled forward as the glass vanished, straight into a pair of familiar arms. 

“Lance, you’re alright!”Hunk hugged him gently, and it felt good to be able to hug back without his shoulder yelling at him. 

“Good to see you, buddy,” Lance said. Hunk released him and set him on his feet, a huge grin on his face. 

“How’re you feeling?” It was Pidge that spoke, seated on the steps near the pods. She had the remains of a radio-type thing next to her, but was looking up at him. 

“Better than before, that’s for sure,” Lance said, stepping back, and rotating his arm. His body was kinda tense, and still heavy with exhaustion - the pod had made him super tired before too - but he felt normal. 

Hunk’s grin faded a little, as he seemed to remember what Lance had looked like when he’d gotten here. 

“Yeah, man. You have to give us the whole story, but first Allura wants us all to report to the bridge as soon as you get out.” 

Lance paused in the middle of a stretch, having just been dreaming about being horizontal. 

“What really? What about Keith, he’s okay, right? Did he go in a pod?” Lance turned, but all the other pods were empty. 

Hunk shook his head. “He’s just asleep. It’s only been about three hours, but I think Allura got a message from someone, and she wants to discuss it.”

Pidge gathered up her things, and nodded with a tight look on her face. “Yeah, he’s gonna want to be there.” 

“Allura said to get him when your pod got done.”

Lance got changed from the thin white suit, and they headed out of the bay, and detoured to Keith’s room. The trio entered to see Keith sleeping heavily in his bed, face turned towards the door. He didn’t even twitch when they knocked, and slid it open. 

“Okay, who wants to do the deed?” Lance said, nudging Hunk with his elbow. Hunk made and ‘eh’ sound. 

“I’m kinda afraid I’ll get stabbed if I shake him awake…” 

Lance spotted the knife on the floor, next to the pile of clothes he’d been wearing. He’d been so sleepy he hadn’t even put it away, since Lance was willing to bet he usually didn’t leave it out so carelessly. With the knowledge that Keith couldn’t do more than punch if he woke up fighting, Lance edged forward, and stood on one foot, and jabbed his toe into Keith’s hip. 

“Mmmphh?” Keith twitched, brow furrowing, before he waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly. Pidge snorted from the doorway. 

“Keeeith….” Lance said, quietly. “It’s time to wake up nowww…” 

He jabbed him again, nearly rolling him over. Keith’s eyes blinked this time, and he breathed in, before peering up at him in abject confusion. 

“Wha?” he mumbled, and Lance couldn’t help but grin at the cuteness. “What are you doing here, supposed to be in the pod….?”

Keith’s voice was slurring, and given that he’d only had about three hours after a few days of sleep deprivation, and one very intense night, Lance couldn’t blame him for not coming straight to alertness. Still, they needed to go see what Allura wanted.

“Keith, Allura wants us on the bridge.” 

“Allura?” Keith woke more, and then sat up, looking miserable as he forced himself awake. He looked around the room with bleary eyes, at Lance standing close to the bed, and Hunk and Pidge in the doorway. “Lance, you’re okay?” 

Lance nodded. “Yup, all healed up. It’s only been about three hours, so I’m hoping Allura lets us both go back to sleep afterwards, but for now, we’ve gotta get up there.” 

Keith yawned widely, and nodded, before turning and climbing slowly out of bed. Keith was moving a little bit like he was drugged, and Lance still had to smile as he exchanged a look with Hunk. 

“‘Kay, let’s go,” Keith said, once he was standing. Lance couldn’t hold back the laugh now. 

“Uh, buddy,” Lance said, and Keith blinked at him. “You might want to put a shirt on? Maybe some pants?” 

Keith looked down at himself, and frowned, because Keith had obviously been in a hurry to bed, and he’d been sleeping in just his boxers. 

“Oh,” Keith said, slowly. Lance turned, and herded Hunk and PIdge out the door. 

“We’ll give you a minute,” he said, still giggling. 

*~*

They made it up to the bridge a few minutes later, once they were all decent. Allura was there, in her normal dress and looking loads been than she’d been when she’d collapsed in the Black Lion’s cockpit after the battle. Lance smiled at seeing her, waving. 

“Hey, Princess, glad you’re feeling better,” he said, and she turned and smiled as they entered. 

“I should say the same to you.” Allura tilted her head. “I heard you injured yourself quite badly outside? You need to take better care of yourself.” 

Lance nodded. “I know, it was stupid.” 

“I’m glad you’re alright, and that you both are back safe,” Allura said, softening, and looking to Keith as well (who still looked dozy and barely noticed). Coran turned from his station. 

“As I am, you two,” he said, pinching the end of his mustache. Lance smiled, and glanced at Keith to see what he thought of all the attention… and he was dozing as he stood, eyes half mast. Lance elbowed him, and he snorted. 

“Thanks,” Lance said, and Keith followed his lead. 

“Thanks.” There may have been too much of a question at the end of that, but no one mentioned anything. 

“So, what’s this message?” Lance asked, wondering what was so important. Keith all dozy from being woken up was hilarious, yes, but he knew that Allura and Coran wouldn’t keep them from resting after being injured without good reason, and Lance felt the draw of being horizontal right now too. Might as well ask, and get this going. 

Allura turned to her station, pulling up a video recording. 

“It’s from a people called the Visiants, a long-lived race from an old civilization, dating long before this war. I had no idea they were still in existence.” Allura widened the frame, and a figure became visible. Humanoid, with large brown eyes, and greenish skin. Their hair was a light teal, and long and twisted into small braids. They were wearing a hood and robe outfit that kinda reminded Lance of the druids, except instead of purple, this one was black and silver, with shots of red, blue, yellow, and green through the fabric in angular patterns. Allura continued. 

“The recording is actually several quintents old, but it had been bounced around for a while, according to Pidge.” 

Pidge pushed up her glasses. “I had to decode it a couple of different ways to even download it. This message was locked up tight, _except_ to the Paladins of Voltron. It eventually took Allura’s biosignature to open it. Which is a little…” 

“Creepy,” Hunk finished. 

Allura nodded. “They shouldn’t have had it. But it’s the message that’s truly intriguing, and it’s the reason I had them wake you, Keith,” she said this to him. Keith blinked, and made a valiant effort to pay attention. 

“Yeah, it’s okay. What is it?” he said, voice rough still.

Allura pressed something on her controls, and the figure began to speak. They had a medium range voice, but it was rough, and accented close to Allura’s. Keith straightened up to listen, so Lance followed suit. 

“Greetings, Princess Allura of Altea, and the Paladins of Voltron. I am Saint Van Ti. We, the monks of the Lions, have contacted you with this message. The Black Paladin wanders in dreams.” 

The person bowed their head, and finished their message. 

“We hope to receive you soon. Warmly, I greet you.” 

The message cut off, and Lance looked at Allura, mouth open. “Did that guy mean what I think they meant?” 

Hunk and Pidge weren’t reacting, as they’d obviously heard the message before, but Keith was standing straight upright now, his face alight with hope, all traces of tiredness gone. 

“They know where Shiro is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thank you for much for joining me on this fun ride! I feel so welcome in the Voltron fandom, and I really had a blast writing these characters. I will be back! 
> 
> Special shout out to my frequent commenters (and deep apologies if I missed anyone!)  
> maychorian (and thank you for reccing me on tumblr too!!)  
> the_iridescent_flame  
> Cocopops1995  
> wingedflower  
> Katherine (you always made me laugh!)  
> Meg
> 
> You're all the best! I hope you keep an eye out for the sequel! I'm going to be participating in a fic contest in another fandom for the end of July, but afterward, I would like to get some written and the plot nailed down before Season 3 comes out. Then I imagine I'll be flaily and distracted for a while, but I'll begin posting as soon as I have a couple chapters done. Also, if anyone would be interested in helping plot, or beta reading, I would love to have a brainstorming buddy. 
> 
> Also, another reminder that you can find me on tumblr under Arisprite. I'll add a link when I'm not on my work laptop. I should be posting updates, possibly art for this storyline, and also some Voltron stuff. I hope to see you around!
> 
> THANK YOU!

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think!


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